The Blood Puppet
by Zute
Summary: A forgotten Orlesian plot is rediscovered by Empress Celene. Plans laid thirteen years ago can be brought to fruition.  Renamed from "The Lost Harvestmere".
1. Chapter 1

**The Lost Harvestmere**

The camp fire was burning low and the conversation was sputtering. Elissa smiled across the embers at Nathaniel. Despite everything that had happened, friendship was growing between the pair. His hatred had been ripped away by the revelations from his sister about their father. She had forgiven him for wanting to kill her. She probably would have felt no differently, she reasoned. She couldn't imagine her father doing something like his did, but perhaps he had felt the same way.

Nathaniel was a handful of years older than her. As children of nobles they had a lot in common and knew something of each others histories. The tales they told each other of their childhood amused them both. There was one subject though that never came up and Nathaniel's curiosity burned. Perhaps it would be impolite to mention it, but maybe the trust that had been building between them could sustain such an invasion of privacy. Nathaniel considered a moment longer then plunged ahead.

"Liss, would it reawaken too many bad memories if I asked about the kidnapping?" he ventured tentatively.

Her eyes grew unfocused for a moment as she stared at the smoldering embers. "No." She shook her head. "I hardly ever think about it. It seems like it happened to someone else. It almost doesn't seem like it was real."

"You were lucky you were returned. Some of the children that disappeared never came back," Nathaniel commented. "I remember you were gone the entire month of Harvestmere. Everyone thought you would never return."

"Yes, I was lucky," she replied. There was something detached about her response.

"Did you ever see any of the other children? What happened to them?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I didn't see any other children."

"Did you ever wonder why they took you?"

"Not really. I always seemed obvious they wanted a big ransom. My parents were very wealthy. They treated me well. I wasn't harmed. I was given a nice room and toys. A man came to tutor me everyday, so my studies kept up. It was a little boring because they wouldn't let me outside to play, but not entirely unpleasant." She hesitated a moment, looking like she was searching for a memory.

"There was a card..." her voice trailed off and suddenly the distant, far-away look in her eyes was replaced by her normal expression.

"A card?" Nathaniel asked.

"Hm?"

"You said, 'There was a card', what were you going to say?" he asked.

"I did? I don't remember now."

"Why don't you go to bed. I'll be fine until the watch is over. You do look very tired," he suggested.

Elissa smiled at Nathaniel. She gave him a quick, friendly hug. "I... well, thanks," she struggled with the words. "I just want to thank you for forgiving me." She pulled away from the embrace but he stopped her, his arm snaking around her waist and pulling her back to him.

"No," he protested, "I should be thanking you." He gave her a moment to pull away and when she didn't his mouth came down on hers, gently, in a tentative kiss. He felt her respond. Her lips relaxed and she returned it. When she pulled away her cheeks were flushed.

"I'd better go to bed," she mumbled.

"Good night, Liss." He watched her retreat to her tent. When he was certain she was gone he smiled into the embers.


	2. Chapter 2

Nathaniel handed the message to Elissa. "Denerim," he said. She stared at it and turned it over to see the royal seal on the back. She sneered and handed it back to him.

"I don't want it," she said.

"Liss, you have to open it, it's from the King."

"No, I don't have to do any such thing." She turned away and strode off to the courtyard. A training dummy was destroyed in short order.

Nathaniel took the message and put it with the rest. A pile of them had been growing in the last few months. Every time a new one came his fingers twitched. He wanted to know what the King was writing. He could open them and tell her he had thrown them away. It got harder to resist each time. This time he placed this one on top of the others and turned to leave. He nearly got to the door when his curiosity finally got the better of him. He went back to the desk and started with the oldest message...

_Elissa, my love, I am sorry for what I said. I was angry with you for thrusting me into this position so I used duty to push you away. Perhaps the Wardens were wrong about having children. Or maybe Avernus could help us. We could adopt a child. There are solutions, I see that now. Please, forgive me and come back._

Nathaniel pushed his hand through his hair. _Maker's breath!_ _Elissa and the King had been in love? Why hadn't she ever said anything? _They had been together for a few months now. He thought after the Mother was killed she would let down her guard and let him in, but it seemed she still had this barrier. Now he had found at least one of her secrets. Was it because she still loved the King?

He opened each of the other messages and they got progressively more urgent and desperate sounding. This last one was a last final plea. He promised he would plague her no more but she needed to answer him or he was going to come to the Keep and confront her directly.

He cursed himself for opening them. Now he would have to decide whether to tell her what he did or not.

Nathaniel was an honest man and he confessed his crime.

"Do you love him still?" he asked, his gray eyes wouldn't let hers look away.

"I didn't want to know what they said, Nathaniel," she scowled at him. "No, I don't love him. He rejected me like a broken broodmare after telling me we would be together no matter what." Her face hardened even further, if that was possible. "He rejected me in front of everyone, my friends, Arl Eamon... I can't ever forgive him for that."

She yanked the pile of letters from his hand and put them on the hearth and used a burning stick to light them. She watched them burn, her eyes drawn tight at the corners. When it finished burning she got a little dustpan and broom and scooped up the ashes. Nathaniel watched her deposit them into an envelope and address it to Alistair. She crossed the hallway to Varel's office.

"Okay, that's done. Hopefully the bastard gets the message before he comes here. I'd hate to be hung for regicide."

Nathaniel looked at her in surprise. "You're joking, right?"

She laughed. "Of course, silly. If I wanted him dead I'd probably have had Zevran do it already."

"But Zevran works for him, I thought?" Nathaniel looked confused.

She just smiled. "He does, of course."

"Then how..."

"Loyalty, friendship, sexual favors. Any would probably work with Zevran. They'd probably work for Alistair too, if he pulled his head out of his ass and treated Zevran as a friend."

Nathaniel choked. "Um, you wouldn't...?"

She finally couldn't hold it back. Her face broke into a big grin. "No, I'm not going to kill Alistair and I'm not going to sleep with Zevran." She cocked her head and looked at him intently. "Could we just pretend we just had a huge fight?"

"What?" he asked. "Why?"

"For the angry make-up sex, of course."

Nathaniel was still getting used to Elissa's mercurial moods and quirky sense of humor. It kept him feeling off-balance, but most of the time it ended delightfully. He tried to school his face into an angry scowl, but half of his mouth refused to stop smiling. He crossed over to the office door and latched it against unwelcome interruptions. He realized a little late that Elissa had successfully deflected him from a topic that made her uncomfortable.

Across the hallway Varel heard the sounds of things falling to the floor followed by other sounds he really didn't want to hear. He shut his office door.

...

_The old manor house was overgrown with ivy and wisteria. Elissa's window was nearly completely blocked off with a green twisting mass of growth. She had a toy in her hand, a doll with a painted wooden face. One of its wide blue eyes was flaking off. It looked like it had a cataract. She clung to the doll and played almost silently, too afraid to make noise lest she miss the sounds of footsteps. Then she would hear it. The soft susurration of silky robes and pad of slippered feet coming down the hallway leading to her room._

_The door opened slowly and a stream of yellow light fell on the man in the robe. He had something in his hand. A vial and a long brass device that made her whimper in fear._

_"It's time, Elissa. Be a brave girl, now. Let's have no more tears this time."_

_Elissa shrank back, back, back, trying to be not here, and the brass thing came closer to her and she screamed and the man frowned and then a splash of red and her body was not hers._

_No, no, no! It was a chant in her head but her body was not hers. It gave willingly whatever the man wanted. Today it was blood, more blood. Some days it was her lessons. Lessons where he smeared blood across her face and made her recite:_

_"They treated me well..." the litany began, "I wasn't harmed. I was given a nice room and toys..."_

_"What does the room look like, Elissa?"_

_"It was a big room in a big house. The window showed a field that had been harvested recently of wheat."_

_"No, Elissa! Not wheat. Oats, girl."_

_A mistake. No, no, no! The pain would come and she would have to start over._

_But today it was the blood and the brass thing was piercing her arm and her blood was dripping into the vial._

_NO! NO! NO!  
_  
Nathaniel watched Elissa twist in their bed, murmuring. "Liss, wake up." He shook her and she trembled with fear. "No! No! No!" she cried in her sleep. She had been doing this anytime she was particularly tired lately. She would have some horrible dream and be almost impossible to awaken. He wrapped his arms around her and mumbled reassurances until she finally quieted and her sleep seemed more normal.

He would ask her about it the next day but she wouldn't remember anything. But all day she would act oddly. Staring out a window, sometimes feverishly drawing strange drawings. She would suddenly stop drawing and look at them with a puzzled expression, wad them up and throw them away. But Nathaniel collected them and saved them. He wasn't sure why. There was something remote in Elissa, like a piece of herself she withheld from everyone. Even after nearly a year together, he still hadn't penetrated that portion she had walled off. He thought the drawings held the key to her secret.

One drawing was of a doll dripping blood, she repeated that theme often. Another time there was a man holding a vial. Sometimes the picture was a scratchy line drawing of a girl hiding in a corner, vines or tentacles threatening to grab her. They had to be related somehow to what had happened to her when she was abducted as a child, but the story she told was always the same... _"They treated me well. I wasn't harmed. I was given a nice room and toys."_

The terror in the little girl's eyes in the drawings did not sound like anything Elissa had told him about her abduction. Something was not adding up.


	3. Chapter 3

"Anders, what do you know of blood magic?" Nathaniel asked the mage.

Anders looked up at him, surprised at the question. "Blood magic? Thinking of taking it on as a hobby?"

Nathaniel laughed "No, I'm just curious what it is about. I mean, why is it so bad?"

Anders mused for a moment. "Well, blood magic uses blood, obviously, which is kind of icky. Sometimes the practitioners would use a lot of blood and that required sacrifices, as in human sacrifices. Once you've crossed that line, well, generally you're going to cross others as well, maybe even striking up a deal with a demon to get even more power."

Nathaniel nodded. "What else? Isn't there blood magic that can control others?"

"Oh right. That's another reason why people are afraid of it. If you have someone's blood you can control them. They're called "blood puppets". The Chantry is afraid that a mage might do that to a monarch or lord, that's another reason why we're kept under such careful watch."

Nathaniel bit his lip thinking. "Could you erase someone's memories with it? Or give them new ones?"

Anders frowned. "I don't know. All the texts on blood magic have been removed from the tower. What little I know comes from gossip amongst the mages. I suppose anything is possible." He looked at Nathaniel cautiously. "That's a very specific question. Why do you ask?"

Nathaniel decided he needed help and he showed Anders the drawings and told the story of Elissa's kidnapping and her nightmares.

Anders pointed at the vial the man was holding. "That looks like a phylactery. A vial used to store blood. If Elissa were held for a month, they could have drawn a lot of blood from her."

"All the other children that disappeared, most of them never were returned although a few were. Could they have been used for their blood?" Nathaniel paced, trying to make sense of it all.

"It's possible. You say the story she tells of this is nothing like these pictures she draws and yet she has no memories other than what she says?"

"Yes," Nathaniel replied, "and the story never changes or wavers. It's almost as if she is reciting something. Yet something replays in her dreams at night but she can't remember the next day, except for these drawings."

Anders mused. "This smells fishy, Nate. What about the other children that were returned?"

Nathaniel shrugged. "I don't remember many of them, maybe Elissa does. But they were all children of Banns or Arls. I wonder if they remember anything?"

Anders's eyes narrowed. "It might be worth finding out."

**Val Royeaux, Orlais**

Empress Celene I patiently endured her nails being buffed and polished while the mage spoke with her.

"Your Majesty, we just discovered a journal amongst your uncle's documents that might be of interest to you," he held out a book filled with chicken scrawlings that made no sense to Celene.

"I cannot read this. What does it say?"

"It is written in ancient Tevinter, there are few that can read it but we did find someone to translate it. We have translated a dozen or so pages. It seems your cousin, the Emperor Florian, was working with a blood mage in Ferelden. There was a rather long term plan to gain control of some of the important houses, perhaps even the crown itself."

Celene stood and dismissed everyone else from the room. When they left she turned to the mage. "Blood magic?"

The mage nodded, "Yes, your Imperial Majesty, a mage by the name of Lucius Iunius wrote this journal and appears to be the brains behind the plot."

Celene paced the room, tapping her elegantly buffed nail against her teeth, thinking. "That's a Tevinter name, isn't it?"

"Indeed. Apparently the mage came from there and managed to elude the Chantry in Ferelden. He came to Orlais to offer his services to your uncle."

"What more have you learned?" she asked the mage.

"Only that this appeared to happen quite some time ago, perhaps thirteen years ago. He mentions some of the children he abducted. There seem to be two lists, one list of those that died and the others that survived. The survivor list is particularly short." He held up the book for her to see.

"Why is that one circled?" she asked.

"That is Elissa Cousland, the Hero of Ferelden, sister to the Teyrn Cousland."

Celene held up her hand. "Oh for Maker's sake, I know who she is! She was obviously one of the survivors. What does it say of her?"

"Lucius was particularly interested in her due to her status as the daughter of a Teyrn. We haven't translated far enough into the journal to know exactly what was planned but it seems obvious they were looking to gain control over key nobles."

Celene thought carefully. "Is this blood mage still alive?" she asked.

The mage shrugged. "I do not know, Majesty."

Celene nodded. "Let me know when you have translated more. This is very interesting."

The mage bowed and turned to leave.

"One moment more, mage," Celene said. "Who knows of this journal?"

"Just myself, the mage translating the journal and the First Enchanter, Majesty," he replied.

"I don't need to tell you that discretion is of the utmost importance do I?" she said.

"Of course, Majesty."

"Thank you, you may depart," she waved him away.

Celene rang her bell and asked that her spy mistress be sent to her.

"Your Imperial Majesty," the elegant woman bowed before the Empress.

"Agnes, I need you to find someone for me. He might be difficult to find. His name is Lucius Iunius and all I know right now is that he was a mage from Tevinter and lived in Ferelden roughly thirteen years ago. I know that isn't much, but if you could start sending out inquiries perhaps I can get you more information later."

The spy mistress nodded and bowed.

"Oh, one more thing. Please see the First Enchanter has an fatal accident."

Agnes looked startled for a moment then regained her composure and bowed and left.

_Interesting, _she mused. _My uncle may have left behind blood puppets, just waiting for a puppet master to make them dance. _She smiled with pleasure. _The way to take Ferelden isn't through force, you finally saw that, didn't you Uncle Florian? Too bad you didn't live long enough to realize your plan._ She laughed remembering those heady days. Killing her Uncle and three cousins at age seventeen without scarcely a jot of suspicion had been her boldest move to date, but perhaps picking up with her Uncle's plans of controlling Ferelden with well-placed blood puppets would surpass even that.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a leisurely morning. Nathaniel had wrapped Elissa in his arms to warm her against the coolness of the morning.

"How did you sleep, Liss?" Nathaniel asked her.

"Fine," she said. "No darkspawn dreams, but there haven't been any since we killed the Mother."

"Do you ever dream about when you were a child? When you were kidnapped?"

She shook her head. "Not that I recall. It really wasn't all that memorable, Nate. Rather a boring month I spent there."

Nathaniel tucked her head under his chin. "I think there's more to this than you remember, Liss."

"Naw," she said.

"Liss, you do have dreams. Terrible dreams I can't even wake you up from but you don't remember them the next day. And then you make those drawings."

Elissa pulled away from him and looked at him like he was insane. "Drawings? What are you talking about?"

Nathaniel looked at her. _She has no memory of the drawings? _"I'll get them." He got out of bed and went to his old room, where he had hidden the drawings.

She had gotten out of bed and pulled a robe on when he returned. She was crouched in front of the fireplace, nursing last night's embers back into a decent fire. He sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace. She settled down on the seat next to him, looking at him warily. He held a stack of crumpled papers in his hand. He handed her the top page, a picture of a doll with a missing eye and dripping a dark fluid.

Elissa's face went white. "That's doll I played with. I remember it."

Nathaniel watched her reaction. "Why is the doll bleeding?"

She rubbed her forehead. "I don't know. Let me see another one."

He handed her the picture of the girl looking terrified in the corner, cringing away from the vines trying to seize her.

She stared at it and shook her head. "Me, I suppose."

"What's happening in this picture, Liss?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know. My room was a big room, with a window facing a field of harvested...", she flinched, "...oats. Not vines."

She picked up the next picture. The man with the vial and she shrugged. She went through the rest of the drawings, all variations on the same themes. "I don't know what to say, Nathaniel. I don't remember anything except the doll and I can't remember drawing these pictures."

Nathaniel rubbed his chin. "Liss, I told Anders about this and showed him the pictures. He thought maybe there was blood magic at work." He pointed at the man holding the vial. "He said that could be a phylactery. Maybe they harvested blood from you for the month you were there?"

Elissa shook her head. "It's not what I remember, but my memories... they don't feel like they really happened. It's like it happened to someone else." She shook her head. "This is crazy. Why would anyone want the blood of a ten year old child?"

"Because they were counting on you growing up and being someone influential someday?" Nathaniel said. "For all they knew you could marry a King someday. You'd be in a perfect position to influence politics or even take the throne if he died."

Elissa laughed sourly. "Well, they missed their chance with me. That's not going to happen. It seems like if they wanted to do something, they would have done so right after the Blight."

"Doesn't it worry you that someone may have your blood and might control you with it? They'd have the perfect assassin in you. Someone trained to kill like a Crow and too important to suspect."

Elissa curled into Nathaniel and sighed. "It's always something, isn't it? But what can I do? I don't remember enough to be able to say for sure."

He stroked her long brown hair. "Let's talk to Anders. Maybe he could help you get to those memories and we could figure out what happened."

...

"I don't know of any way of getting to your memories, Elissa. I suppose I could try different herbs on you and see if you can get relaxed enough to be able to remember."

Elissa looked at Nathaniel and he nodded. "We have to try, Liss."

She nodded at Anders. "Okay, do your best."

Anders smiled. "I have to warn you, you're not going to feel like working after you do this, or doing much of anything really."

"I've been meaning to take a day off," she said. "Let's just do this."

"Come up to my room. All my herbs are up there."

Nathaniel and Elissa followed him up to his room. The place looked like a hurricane had been through there. Books were everywhere. Laying open on the floor, stacked in the chairs, on his bed. What surfaces weren't covered with books were covered with mage robes. It seemed that Anders was incapable of putting anything away. His bookshelf was nearly empty of books.

"Sorry about the mess," he said clearing off a couple of chairs for them. They sat down and watched Anders bustle around his room, looking for his herbs. He finally found them. "This would be a good start. Very relaxing." He stuffed some dried leaves into a pipe and lit it, taking a few puffs himself. "Ahhhh," he sighed as he exhaled. "Good stuff."

Elissa looked up at him. "I have to smoke it?" She wrinkled her nose.

"Just inhale a little and hold it as long as you can, then let it go," Anders coached her.

She held the pipe to her mouth and gently inhaled. She immediately started to cough and smoke spewed out of her mouth.

"Just try it again," Anders said, his eyes half-closing.

She put it up to her mouth and drew on it again. She managed to suppress the urge to cough. She held her breath until she felt she was going to pass out. Then she let the smoke free.

"Feel anything?" Anders asked.

She shrugged. "Not really."

"Try it again," he said.

She drew on the pipe again, taking a bigger draw. This time a sort of lethargy crept into her. She smiled at Anders. "Oh, that's rather nice." She fell back into the chair bonelessly. The pipe dangled from her fingers and Nathaniel snatched it up before she dropped it.

"Try it, Nate," Anders invited him. "It's mild, wears off in an hour or so."

Nathaniel took a draw on the pipe and managed not to cough it back out. Then suddenly a wave of relaxation came over him. He handed the pipe to Anders who took another draw on it, then he put the pipe out.

"Nate, why don't you go get us something to eat," Anders suggested.

Elissa nodded. "Good idea, Anders."

Nathaniel left them to find a servant to bring them some food. He returned a few minutes later and found Anders and Elissa were giggling helplessly.

"Anders," Nathaniel shook his arm. "I think you're forgetting why we're here, doing this."

He sat up and wiped away his tears of laughter. "Oh right. Um, here. I can fix this." He cast a spell on himself and he looked more serious and his eyes weren't half-closed any longer. "Let's see if Elissa can get to more memories."

Elissa giggled. "I remember that time Anders lost a bet to Oghren and had to eat dinner dressed as a woman."

Nathaniel shook his head. "Those aren't the memories we're looking for." He handed the stack of drawings to Elissa. "Look at these and see if anything comes back to you."

She shuffled through them and handed them back. "Nope."

The servant came in with the tray of food and Elissa fell on it like she was starving.

"What else do you have, Anders?" Nathaniel asked.

He got up and rummaged around in a drawer and pulled out a little vial. "This one is stronger. It puts you into a sort of trance. You can respond to questions but that's about all." He poured out a tiny amount on a spoon and gave it to Elissa. She licked the drop out and fell back into the chair unconscious.

"Um, Anders, she's unconscious."

"No, she only looks that way. She's just in a trance. By the way, if there's anything you ever really wanted to know, you could ask her and she'd tell you the absolute truth."

"Would she remember?" he asked.

Anders shook his head.

There was one question Nathaniel was dying to ask. "Leave the room, Anders. I don't think she would want you to hear this question or her answer."

"Oh come on, no secrets between Wardens, right?" he said.

"Since when?" Nathaniel replied. "Get out."

Anders got up and left, pulling the door shut.

Nathaniel reached over and took her hand. "Do you still love Alistair?" he asked.

She was unresponsive for a moment then she said, "No."

Nathaniel smiled and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. There was one more question he wanted to ask, but he was afraid of the answer. He went to the door and opened it and beckoned Anders in.

"Liss, what do you remember of the kidnapping when you were 10 years old?"

"The doll," she said.

Nathaniel looked puzzled. She didn't say the usual story this time.

"Liss, what do you remember about the man with the vial?"

"Nothing," she said.

"Where were you?"

"I don't know," she said.

"This is different," he said to Anders. "Usually she has a whole story she says about the time she was kidnapped."

Anders rubbed his jaw. "If they removed her memories with blood magic it might take the same to bring them back."

Nathaniel nodded. "Well, it was a worthwhile experiment. How long before this wears off?"

"A few hours. Wait, I have a question for her." Anders had a silly grin on his face. "Do you think I'm sexy?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Ha! I knew it. I should have made my move. You beat me to it."

Nathaniel glared at him. "Stop invading her privacy! And no, she never would have gone for you. We understood each other from the start."

"What do you mean? You wanted to kill her."

"Well, after that."

"Right. Well, if you screw this up, buddy, I'm going for it."

Nathaniel glared at him.

"I know a blood mage," Anders confessed, returning to the topic.

"Really? Do you trust him? Would he help us?"

"Well, he helped me hide from the templars for awhile. I think we could trust him. He's a weird old guy, but I think he's okay."

Nathaniel looked suspicious. "You think..."

"Have you got any candidates for honest, law-abiding blood mages to entrust this to?" Anders asked.

Nathaniel shook his head.

"I thought not. He's about a day's ride away. I could take you two to him."

Nathaniel bit his lip. "I'll discuss it with her when she wakes. We'll see what she says." He bent over and picked her up. "Get the door, would you?" Elissa wasn't light.

He carried her back to their room and put her on their bed and let her sleep. If nothing else they had learned that the memories she said she had of the kidnapping were false. That was at least something. And what he learned about Alistair put the last niggling doubt to rest that he had. Whether or not she loved him, he didn't know, but at least she didn't love Alistair.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Note: **__Changed the name to "The Blood Puppet". I just thought it was cooler. :) _

_..._

Blood mages rarely travel through Orlais in the style and comfort provided Lucius. Generally they were dragged around, beaten and left barely alive. But Lucius knew he was closely guarded by the Empresses spy mistress. When they arrived at the palace Lucius was housed in comfort and given an opportunity to rest and refresh himself. Later that evening he was brought before the Empress, only the spy mistress was allowed to stay. Lucius judged that he could have them both under control before the spy mistress could harm him. But what need? This would most likely be a very profitable meeting.

"Lucius Iunius," Celene said, looking the man over carefully. "I have gone to great expense to find you. I trust you are comfortable?" He was older now, of course, in his mid-forties, but a handsome man. His hair was shoulder length, curly and black, streaked with some gray. He had a neatly trimmed beard and mustache. Her uncle and Lucius had schemed some thirteen years ago. Since then Celene had replaced her Uncle, about eight years ago. Elissa would have been fifteen when Celene came into power.

"Indeed, your Imperial Highness, the journey was exceptionally comfortable," he bowed respectfully.

"Do you have any idea why I summoned you, Lucius?" she asked.

"I suspect you might be interested in a project your Uncle and I undertook many years ago."

Celene smiled. _Good. No useless, time-wasting denials._ "Yes, Lucius. Your journal was discovered and translated and I find myself rather intrigued by the opportunities your experiments created. Would your research and endeavors still be useful now, thirteen years later?"

Lucius smiled. "Indeed, Majesty. I took precautions that the passage of time would not diminish the effectiveness of my efforts."

Celene smiled. "Good! Would you like to resume working on this project for me? You will be rewarded handsomely, of course." Presenting it as a choice was always preferable. Even if he knew it wasn't really a choice, he could choose to delude himself that it was.

Lucius bowed. "I'd be honored, of course. It will be nice to reestablish my acquaintance with the young lady in question as well."

"She's not so young any longer, Lucius. She must be twenty three now, and a great hero as well."

Lucius chuckled. "Oh yes, I've been following the career of my protégé. She certainly has led an exciting life and she must have easy contact with everyone of importance in Ferelden. I dare say, she's a deadly arrow just begging to be aimed."

Celene laughed. "No Lucius, not an arrow to be wasted. She could deliver Ferelden to us like an eager bride on her wedding night. We just need to make her Queen-Consort or perhaps Queen on her own if the King proves intractable."

Lucius smiled and nodded. "That can certainly be arranged, providing the King is willing."

"From all reports, he is the willing one, but she is not."

"Then it will be a small matter to get her compliance," he said. "I will need to actually have access to her."

"Of course. I have purchased an estate in Amaranthine for you to use and it is already staffed and waiting for you. You must go immediately. The King is under pressure to take a wife and it will complicate matters if he takes the wrong one."

Lucius nodded. "Of course, Highness. How do you suggest that we communicate over the long distances?"

"I have a system of carrier pigeons already set up to fly to a location not far away from your estate and some riders ready to go at a moment's notice."

"That will work, I'm sure."

Celene smiled. "Very well, I look forward to working with you, Lucius." She offered her hand and he brushed her knuckles with his lips.

"As do I, Majesty."

...

"Commander, an outrider brings news. The King will be arriving at the Keep this afternoon with a small company of guards," Varel told Elissa.

"Maker's..." she sighed, wanting to swear but she had made a bet with Oghren that she could go a whole day without swearing. "Grrrr! Without any warning either. The man is a menance."

"The outrider says that they do not wish any special accommodations made. The King insists he is to be treated like any other Warden."

Elissa barked a short laugh. "Well then, give him that nasty little room next to Nathaniel's old room."

Varel shook his head. "Commander... why don't you just let me handle it?"

Elissa sighed. "Fine. Just make sure he isn't too comfortable. I don't want him to stay."

Nathaniel walked in in time to hear her last sentence. "Who do we not want to be comfortable?"

"The King," Elissa frowned.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll make him very uncomfortable," Nathaniel said with a smirk.

Elissa smiled. "I know just how too," she grinned. "Make sure you stay close while he's here, Nate." She gave him a kiss in front of Varel. She never showed much affection to him in front of anyone else. That would change, briefly anyway.

Nathaniel looked surprised and then caught onto Elissa's intention. "Ah. Yes, that will probably work. I just hope it doesn't get me thrown into Fort Drakkon."

...

There was always a ghost of a hope lingering in Alistair that Elissa would forgive him and take him back. A lot of time had gone by, a little more than a year now. She hadn't answered even one of his letters. She'd been nothing but formal and distant when he visited after she first took command of the keep. And now a vicious rumor had been circulating that she was with Nathaniel Howe, son of the man who killed her family. That would be... impossible, of course. How could you forget something like that?

Alistair dismounted his horse and passed it off to a servant. He had a few guards with him, nothing like the escort Eamon had insisted he take. He strode into the keep, his golden armor jangling with authority.

Varel, the seneschal, was waiting to greet him. Oghren was there too. He was introduced to Anders and Sigrun. Alistair insisted the Wardens call him Alistair.

"Please sit, Alistair," Varel told him, "the Commander will be down soon."

Alistair knew it was a slight, he would have been surprised if she hadn't done it. He knew his chances with her were slim, but if he didn't try he would never know. He was being pressured to marry but before he would consider anyone else, he had to try to make things work with Elissa.

His breath caught in his chest when she came down the stairs. _Maker's breath, she is lovely,_ he thought. She wore a dark red gown that contrasted with the paleness of her skin and the redness of her full lips. It was cut low and the corset she wore over it pushed her breasts up into perfectly formed hillocks. Right behind her was someone whose face resembled the old Arl Howe's face closely enough, he guessed it was the son, Nathaniel.

Elissa curtsied deeply, and his eyes followed her breasts as she dipped down. He was going to insist that she not make the obeisance except he could see much more of her breasts this way. To think, those breasts were his to touch once. _I'm such an ass,_ he thought.

"Please, don't Elissa. While I'm here, I'm a Grey Warden like the rest of you," he took her hand and helped her rise and kissed her knuckles.

"Then I suppose that makes me your commander, Your Majesty," Elissa laughed. Alistair had nearly forgotten her breathy contralto laugh.

"Indeed," he gave her a sharp salute. "Grey Warden Alistair, reporting for duty, Commander," he said sharply.

She shook her head. "We're not that formal around here, Your Majesty."

"Enough with the formalities, I get too much of that in Denerim as it is."

"I'm sure after your journey you must be tired and hungry. Would you like to eat, wash-up, rest?" Elissa asked.

"Actually, I'd like to change out of the armor and then see the keep and hear how things are going with recruitment and what you're working on and how the rebuilding is coming." He thought an oblique approach would work best. It was perhaps a transparent ruse, especially given his last letter to her.

"I can show you to your room," Varel volunteered. "We'll get your guard quartered as well." Varel assigned the task of housing the guard to his assistant.

...

The dinner was friendly and chaotic. The Grey Wardens sat together at one table with the Captain, seneschal and treasurer and the recruits were at another table. The atmosphere was informal and it was obvious the Wardens were all fond of one another. It reminded Alistair of his early days with the Wardens. He had always hoped he would be able to be a part of that again, not as a guest, but as a Warden. It stung a little to feel like an outsider from something he missed so much.

"Elissa," he leaned over and spoke to her quietly, "can we talk somewhere privately after dinner?"

She nodded. "Of course."

After they finished dinner she walked him up to her study, leaving Nathaniel behind for the first time since he had arrived.

She gestured to a big overstuffed chair for him to sit in and she poured them both a snifter of brandy. She said nothing, just handed it to him and perched on the edge of the sofa facing him.

He drank down the brandy in a few gulps, hoping it would bolster his courage.

"More?" Elissa asked, finally breaking the silence.

He nodded and held out his glass.

"I don't remember you being much of a drinker, Al," she said.

"It's an escape," he said. "Hard to escape when you're in a palace surrounded by people that want something from you."

"Surely it isn't all bad?" she said.

"Oh no. It has its moments, but I miss being able to be just myself, without having to please anyone but those I care about."

Something sad passed over Elissa's face. "I think I can understand that." She got up and walked to the fireplace, holding her brandy snifter. "I suppose I did this to you, didn't I?"

"I could have said 'no'", he replied. He could have, but the options they had were terribly grim. He certainly didn't want Anora to rule, or Loghain. The other option was to let the Landsmeet figure it out but with the Blight pressing in on them, it wasn't likely to happen quickly enough.

"No, we both know you couldn't have. The country needed someone to take charge and deal with the Blight. You were the only option we could trust to do the right thing."

"True, that." He sighed and got up and stood by her at the fire. "I'm sorry I was such an ass about it. I've been trying to apologize for the better part of a year."

"I didn't read your letters," she said.

He drank more. "Why not?"

"At first, I was just too angry."

"And then?" he asked.

Elissa was silent for awhile. "I moved on. I didn't want to reopen an old wound."

Alistair's jaw clenched. "Is Nathaniel what you moved on to?"

She didn't answer at first. "Yes, we're together."

"After what his father did to your family? You could just put all that aside?"

"It was his father, not him. He wasn't even in Ferelden and he certainly didn't know what was going on. Nathaniel is a good man, Al. He had a hard time coming to terms with it but eventually he did."

"Elissa, you're a Cousland. There's no need to settle for someone without lands or title."

"Didn't you point it out to me, in front of everyone we know, that I'm an unsuitable mate now? Of course, you are too, but I guess that didn't cross your mind did it? I'm out of the marriage market for nobility, Alistair. If someone marries me it'll be because they want me, not because I have wide hips, suitable for bearing children and eggs springing out of my loins, begging to be fertilized." Her eyes flashed angrily.

He sighed and bumped his forehead against the wall with frustration. "I've regretted what I said for a long time now. I realize now we had other options. That's what I was trying to tell you in those letters." He sighed again. "I should have come sooner, to make you listen to me."

She stared at him. "So why did you come?"

He frowned. "So I could say all the things I've been saying in my letters for the last nine months and try to repair things between us."

She smiled sadly. "There's no going back to what we were before... all that."

He stepped closer to her and took her upper arms in his hands. "Liss, we could try. Nothing has changed for me. I love you as much as I ever did." He pulled her to him and tried to kiss her, but she pulled away.

"No," she said firmly. "I'm sorry, Al. I meant it when I said I had moved on. I am willing to be friends, but anything else is just not possible."

"You won't ever forgive me for that one comment?" his forehead furrowed.

"I do forgive you, but I don't feel the same way about you." She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'm sorry if that is brutal, but it is true."

Alistair felt defeated. "I'm getting pressured to marry. I wanted it to be you, Liss."

Elissa reached out and rubbed his arm in a gesture meant to comfort him. "Find someone you can love, Al. Do this for yourself, don't cave into political pressures."

"I did find someone I love," he looked at her sadly, "I don't think this happens twice in a lifetime."

She smiled wistfully. "Oh, I don't know about that, Alistair."

He closed his eyes, the meaning sinking in. "So you love him?"

She hummed, a small smile nudging the corners of her mouth. "Perhaps. I don't wear my heart on my sleeve any more."

Alistair looked away from her. "We'll be leaving tomorrow morning. I got the answer I came to get, even if it wasn't the one I wanted."

She sighed heavily, her face looked guilty and conflicted. "I'm sorry," she apologized again.

"No, it's not your fault, Liss. I was an ass and I ruined the best thing I had going. The one thing that could have made this all so much more bearable and enjoyable."

"There's someone out there for you, Al. I know you don't believe that now, but I know it's true," she squeezed his arm.

"Good night, Liss." He leaned over to kiss her cheek and he went to his room.

He had to finally give up his last dream. It kept him awake most of the night. He departed from the keep before sunrise, before Elissa even awoke.

...

_Poor Alistair never gets the girl in my stories - so far. The one he does, he dies. Someday I will have to make it up to the poor guy. Hmmm... maybe it'll be this one!_


End file.
